“Rogue landlords” must share the blame for the scourge of mass dumping in Dublin’s north inner city.

Once a fortnight, Ballybough Pride of Place (BPP) volunteers gather for a community cleanup in the area.

This weekend, the group cleaned up 36 bin bags left on the street but chair Frank Keohane said as soon as the litter been taken away, more bin bags were chucked out onto the street.

“It’s the same old locations,” Mr Keohane told The Pat Kenny Show.  

“[Those] bags were dumped on Saturday, 36 bags. 

“They were cleaned up on Sunday morning and then yesterday morning I went out and counted another 46 bags.” 

Mr Keohane estimates around 40 bin bags are illegally left out every Monday morning and he is concerned about its impact on the environment. 

“Of all this rubbish that’s being dumped, none of it’s being recycled,” he said. 

“80% of it is capable of being recycled but it’s all going to landfill. Just wasting resources.” 

Report Illegal Dumping - Litter Hotline 1800 251 500 - #keepdublinclean @LordMayorDublin http://t.co/DBP7jG85p8 pic.twitter.com/6wrppuJHGa

— Dublin City Council (@DubCityCouncil) August 28, 2015

BPP is doing its best to tackle the problem but Mr Keohane said there is a “limit” to what they can do. 

“Landlords need to take responsibility [and] provide places for people to store their refuse,” he said. 

“You’re not going to store your refuse in the corner of your bedsit for two weeks until the next collection.”

Green Party North Inner City councillor Janet Horner said landlords have to take a share of the blame for the area’s dumping problem.

“In the inner city, we have overconcentration of housing, we have short-term tenancies, we’ve got flats all over the place,” she said. 

“We rely on bags instead of wheelie bins, we have rogue landlords that have I heard stories of actively telling their tenant, ‘Don’t bother getting a bin contract, just stick it in the street and the council will pick it up eventually.’”

Solutions

Mr Keohane said there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to the problem but said BPP is considering going through the rubbish searching for bills with people’s name on them in order to name and shame them. 

“That is an option,” he said. 

“It’s going to take up a great deal of resources doing that [but] it’s one option that needs to be explored.”

Anyone caught dumping in Ireland risks an on-the-spot fine of €150 or a maximum fine of €4,000 if you are convicted in a District Court.

Main image: A pile of rubbish bags. Picture by: PjrNews / Alamy Stock Photo